Many modern computing devices pair with pen or stylus devices and are configured to interact with them. Pen devices may include wireless communication capabilities that are used for inking, and off-screen control based on tail button clicks, battery state reporting, pen firmware updates, and/or telemetry. Some existing systems include the implementation of a “downlink” capability to the tip of the pen from which the identity of the pen can be established by a computing device. This enables the computing device to initiate a pairing procedure. However, these configurations have drawbacks. For example, the pen needs to be explicitly put in “pairing mode” by a long press of the tail button (e.g., the pen/device is not discoverable). Further, because of the need to explicitly have a single paired device in some systems, the pen can only target the last device on which the pairing process was completed, not necessarily the last device the user inked on (e.g., the device that the user has most recently written or drawn on with the pen device tip).
To utilize the full functionality of the pen, and not just inking, users must pair their pens with the companion devices (e.g., via Bluetooth) in existing systems. There are several ways in which Bluetooth pairing is possible, but some users do not pair their pens given the difficulties involved in current pairing processes and, therefore, do not get the benefit of the full functionality of the pen.